Feeding Wildlife

 Many, many months ago at playgroup we went out and did a nuture walk and I collected a bunch of pine cones to bring home and make bird feeders out of. Then I forgot all about them until one day grocery shopping Ladybug pointed to the bird food and said we needed to feed them. I remember back and said Yes we can and it will be a fun project for us to do one day!! So I bought a bag, a small bag and put it on our crafts list!
 I got the pine cones set up with cord (donated by The Marine ha ha), I hot glued them on the cones (and boy do I love hot-gluing things). I put a big shower curtain down on the floor, brought out the peanut butter and a bowl of bird seed. I then waited for the kids to wake from their nap to have some fun! Only Mister decided that day to take a 5hr nap, so it ended up just being Ladybug and I making the bird feeders, but it was still a ton of fun and I'm pretty sure Mister would have just ate the peanut butter anyway!

                                        Our work in the making

 Ladybug and I had fun and she made such a mess!! I think the most fun happens when messes are made, especially at this age! And at my age most of the time, depends on who has to clean it all up! She really thought making these was a blast and really did a great job spreding the peanut butter all over and pouring bird seed on them and covering everything! Thank goodness for that shower curtain!! So then we went outside and put them on the bushes that are right outside our big floor length windows in the living room in hopes that we attract lots and lots of birds!!
 It took a few days but befor we knew it we had more than just birds!!!

 This funky little guy has been around here and there but now he really gets up close and even poses for pictures for us! He enjoyed the bird feeders so much that he took off with them!!! Yep one by one he stole the peanut butter and seed laced pine cones! Ladybug calls him the "mini-kitty" even though she can say squrriel she thinks mini kitty is "cuter" she told me! Most of the time he runs away if we move to the window too fast but there are some days when he stands around looking back at us, which both kids (and cat) enjoy beyond words!!

 The we get the bords like this cute one here! he did this wonderful head turn when he saw us in the window!! The kids and I are having daily fun watching our wildlife right in front of us and Ladybug tells Mister made up stories about the names she gives the birds.
 I keep having to go outside and pour more seed around the windows to keep them coming back to us, but for the enjoyment of watching the kids watch the animals it's worth it! I should just go ahead and get some real bird feeders and put out and maybe a corn-cob holder for our "mini kitty" too!

Amber Necklace Photography

Inspired by Finn makes some beautiful and high quality baltic amber jewerly. I recently blogged about how I bought a necklace for Mister in hopes it eases some of his discomforts. I have noticed he does not cry and fuss as often, besides the days when Ladybug was not letting him sleep (she was waking up super early and going into his room and waking him too, also happened during nap times. A kid proof doorknob thing ended that) I do think it is helping Mister as his last molar is coming in and I think his eye teeth are soon to follow. I ordered myself one and one for Ladybug too. Today they came and I decided to play with my camera and take some shots of the new necklaces we have.

 I think this one is my favorite of all the shots I took today. I basically am proud of this I love the bokeh in the picture I love the lighting I just love it.

 This one is my necklace! I took this on my front porch as the sun was setting.

No TV

 I am seriously thinking about taking the tv out of our living room. It is such an easy distraction not only for the kids but for myself. I could mindlessly watch tv all.day.long. It doesn't matter what is on, I will find something and watch it. The kids watch WAY too much, yo gabba gabba, mickey mouse, dora, diego, handy many, barney, word world, super why....whatever it is they watch it. I know it's a bad thing, a very bad thing. It is also a life habit I learned growing up and seems to be that I cannot change it without something drastic like taking the tv out of the living room.
 When I was younger (cannot remember how old) for Christmas one year my brothers and I got tvs for our rooms! My dad was so great to make the tv stands for all of us and they were really nice, solid wood, open space for the vcr (yep vcr remember those?), a big open area under the vcr for whatever, a hole in the back for wires...the stands were great! We were so super excited to have our own tv's in our own rooms, we never came out of our rooms. After that Christmas family game nights slowly but sharply ended, family dinners came to a stop, family time at nights after dinner ended...family all together ended basically. While at the time we loved our tvs, and maybe my parents thought well we are growing older and more on our own and didn't notice the lack of family, at the time it was fine.... My parents divorced sometimes after that, my brothers and I became strangers to each other, we all at some point got into drugs (for myself it was very hard to find the way out)... years went by and we weren't a family just a group of people blood related. Was it our personal tvs? Not totally but they sure started it in motion. Wonder what would have happened had we stayed a family... But you see where I came from...tv was just always there always on, and it hasn't stopped. Shit the tv is on right now and I am not watching it I am typing... why is it on?! background noise?
 I need to end this, and end it badly. My kids were/are both speech delayed kids...I know it is from the damned tv and my inability to turn it off. Ladybug recieved speech therphy for 6 months to get back on track for her age, Mister is just about to start (he is 16 months and scores at 6 months for communication skills) My fault, I fail them by using tv. I fail as a mother when the tv is on, which means I fail all day long.... I fail my kids and this feeling sucks......so why can I not turn it off?!?!?!  This is why it needs to go like seriously...you might think it is such a dramastic thing but that is the measures that need to happen. If it is there it will be on....so it needs to go. I have yet to talk to The Marine about this, and I am sure he will resist because he grew up the same way, he will see the light in time.
 Why don't I just turn the cable off? well cause I have shows I love to watch!! I love Big Love on hbo and True Blood! Days of our lives is my soap Ive been watching for ages! I will keep the small tv upstairs in my bedroom, we don't spend days in the bedroom upstairs...what will I put in place of the tv there will be a gaping hole in our entertainment center... .... I have to think but we do have plenty of books....or I can stack tupperware boxes of our art supplies in there!!! I think that would be perfect actually! I can move the dvr box upstairs, maybe re-do our bedroom and put the big tv up there actually... maybe in time when the addiction to the tv is lessened we can bring it back, but not for a while... call me weird but this is a serious issue!

Wanna know a secret?

 Ok you really want to know? ok ok






     I am pretty much obsessed with the dougie dance
 I know wow super white girl...ginger kid me! yep I love that song and when I am alone during nap times...I pratice my dougie dance... crazy right? ya that's me sometimes I am wild and weird like that. But today Ladybug woke from her nap and she told me to stop dancing ha ha ha ha ha...want to know why she told me to stop? No...not cause I am the worst but because she wanted to dance!! Yep my daughter does the dougie!

The Road Gets Crunchier

 As I have stated before, I am a pretty crunchy momma. It's not a fad or anything new or anything from the norm for me...when I got pregnant with Ladybug I was part of a mommy group and was exposed to different kinds of mothering and I choose the path that seemed best for us.
 Today I bought an amber teething necklace for Mister. I have always wanted to get one since Ladybug was a baby, but she wasn;t a miserable teether and I have always wanted to see it and hold it before I bought it...I have never been able to find any locally despite active searching. Well my all time most favorite store A Nurturing Moment started carrying them, they recently brought in an amwesome (mainly) online store (Mami's and Papa's) so I was beyond thrilled to finally have in my hand this super cute one from Inspired by Finn. Ok Mister is now wearing a necklace, and it actually looks super cute and not girly at all either! The marine said he looks like an adorable hippy baby ha ha ha! Ladybug said when we got home it was pretty and now she wants one! I will update later to say if it helps his cranky and fussy behavior, and teething woes or not.
 So I offically think I got a tad more crunchy! I want to get an adult sized for myself to try and help with my headaches, shoulder pains, and my mild mouth pain.

What has been going on with me..

 If you are my friend on facebook (or used to be before the purge) then you may have noticed a bunch of posts seemingly by an upset and mad me. Ya that's right I have been fuming over a few things, hurt by others actions, and upset by my reactions to it all. I have and probably always will be the type of person who takes just about everything to heart, I let things get to me when in my logical mind I know I shouldn't. I cannot seem to help it though, I have tried to tell myself stop it but it never works, I always get hurt. I always end out feeling like an outsider. I always end up with less "friends" (who needs fake friends anyway right?)
 Recently I have stated how the deployment, the lupus, and my feelings about it all. This states where I have let other drive me crazy. Feeling like the outsider of a group isn't a fun feeling. I will be frank here, I thought a unit of Marine wifes were all supposed to help, support, and generally be there for others...not for a bunch of catty, mean, and rude behavior. I noticed on facebook an event was created a 'girls night out' and invited were a bunch of the other wives/girlfriends to go out for dinner, a social event, something fun. My feelings got hurt when nobody thought to invite me, was that childish of me? Maybe. Was it a natural reaction to not being invited out by a group of owmen you are supposed to have a kinship with? Yes. It hurt my feelings, I know my husband didn't deploy, is that the reaosn I wasn't thought of? Or is the reason my alternitave pareting ways, even though I do not preach or push them onto others? Whatever the reaosn it hurt, and the hurt was made worse when somebody who's husband isn't even active duty or a reservist anymore was invited to go out (her husband was in and trainedand everything but then got out right before the deployment...) So if the reason isn't cause my husband didn't deploy, what was the reason I was left out?
 The next straw that rboke the back was the facebook group created for all wives/girlfriends/moms/whomever to keep in touch, talk, plan events, anything really... I was over-looked to that invite too... again hurt? yes. Normal feeling? who wouldn't be? Should I have put big girl panties on? Probably, but being me I just got mad and upset about the whole thing. I went on a facebook friend purge and I ended up getting rid of a bunch of people who I counted as friends who for whatever reason just decided I wasn't worth hanging around or anything. People whom I offered anything to, watched kids for, helped out in any way possible, and would have bent over backwards for.... I guess it is just easy to take advantage of one's genuine generousity.
 I will be honest I got rid of a lot of people from the unit, I was tired of it, tired of them, tired of the bullshit of the unit. Seriously this is the unit that gives Marine wives bad names in my opinion....you know the catty "Im better than you, my husband is this rank, omg lets gossip behind their backs and pretend to be nice to their face" that type of crap... (It isn't everybody...never is everybody...it's just a select group who ruin things for others like always). Well i thought I got them all, I didn't...crap in my haste I forgot a husband...who then started in on me today on facebook (and proved the very reason I was deleting people)... I am just tired of it.
 I thought being a Marine wife meant a whole kinship of owmen who know what it is, what it takes, and how to deal with being the wife of a United States Marine. Maybe I was spoiled by previous units, where things ran smoothly. Maybe I am taking this all out on context, and it isn't all what it seems, who knows... I no longer care to know. Sorry if this was a little hard to follow, my emotions still get the best of me when I think about everything. I am sorry to my husband if you end up getting "talked to" at work for me being frank about things. Maybe if that were to happen the person who is doing the talking to can see no unit names, no names at all were said. Censorship was used to the best of my ability but I still do have freedom of speech. This is all just my two cents, not his.

 A person can only drive you crazy when you give them the keys

 I took my keys back, good luck finding them! 

Snow, there is more than we can see....

  Yes we have a lot of snow on the ground. Nope this area does not plan for snow because this is an area that honestly once in a great while only ever gets a dusting. The amount we have on the ground now is a freak of nature! I enjoyed watching facebook Sunday/Monday with all these people excited for the snow, excited to play in itm for their kids to play in it! To make snowmen, snow cream, snow forts, anything snow! It is now 3 days later and most of those same people are hating the snow and want it all gone now, they are d.o.n.e baby! Too bad it doesn't work like that...

 Monday was fun, everybody had a snow day!!! Kids loved having school off and playing outside. Many kids in the area and adults had snow cream for the first time ever! The mass posting of snow pictures was a lot of fun to look through. I enjoyed seeing how other people spent their fun time. Everybody was loving it!!

 Tuesday people started saying ya this is nice but now I have to drive to work in this?! crap!!! Schools were still closed so a lot of parents had to find other child care or stay home, I can understand that must be a pain in the butt. Still a lot of people were out again having snow much fun!

 Wednesday, it seems that the majority of people are hating the snow and wishing it gone. It's funny because weren't you all just saying how exciting snow was? It only comes here once in a blue moon and only sticks less often than that. Why not enjoy it while it's here? Why complain about something ou were so excited about? It's not like this is Ohio where there is snow on the ground for like 4 months straight...now those people get to complain some what.

  Our school systems have been out of school all week due to the snow we got Sunday/Monday night. It is understandable, Alabama is not an area that gets snow so they are not equipped to deal with it. Plowing and salting roads/parking lots costs more money than the city/state has in their budget, because again this area doesn't ever get snow so why budget for the freak snow storms? Trying to explain this to somebody who thinks that because people go to work kids should go to school, it simply is not that easy...better safe than sorry staying home than to risk a bus accident. It's easier for the city to keep schools closed than to spend money nobody has to make sure roads/parking lots are plowed. People have to go to work, that just has to happen. Businesses have to stay open because small businesses would die if they stayed closed, big businesses need special permissions from corprate offices to close... there is way more to it than what we see.

 I for one am enjoying waking up to snow every morning! I love that Ladybug gets up and puts her snowsuit on every morning and waits! I love how the kids pratice snow angels on the living room floor, or how the dogs run and jump and love it! I am enjoying this freak of nature while it lasts, so stop trying to ruin it with your complaints! It WILL melt at some point, sooner than most states (like Ohio gets another 2 months of this shit...) Have fun with it!

Finally My Resolution

 I have been working on my resolution for a littlw while now, I decided on it before the new year came in actually. Want to know what it is? Ready??

To not judge other mothers so badly for their choices

 I know I have done this way way too much in the past. Any time somebody did something I didn't agree with I would judge them, most often without knowing why. I used to not care why you could not breastfeed, I just saw you as a lazy mother who didn't care to try. I used to not care why you started your baby on solids early, maybe they have bad reflue and rice cereal helps. I used to not care why you choose to turn your baby forward facing too soon, maybe you just do not know that rear facing is 500 times safer. I used to not care why you choose to pump your new baby full of shots, maybe you 100% believe they are for the best. There are a lot of things I used to not care to understand why mothers did things unlike the way I did them, and I was taking a lot of things to heart. I have decided, finally, that I cannot mother every child out there and that I shouldn't try. People will make choices that they see as the best choices for themselves and their family, just as I do with my family. I am guessing people wonder why I make a lot of choices that I make because I do not follow mainstream parenting, that is fine by me, if you want to better understand I am open to talk about whatever. By talk I also mean you not preaching to me about your views, an honest open conversation is what I mean.

 I am also trying to do better at understanding what drives people to make their parenting choices. Example this one day I wondered why a new mom choose not to breastfeed their new baby (who was having tummy troubles due to formula, as finding the right formula for your baby can be harder than some might think) I simple wanted to know why, I got flamed for asking.... I just asked. I don't mind that so bad, it is probably karma coming back at me for flaming those in the past. I ended having a conversation with the person who flamed me, we came to an understanding that she over reacted to me asking when she shouldn't have as my comment was not meant with malice.

 So any way I feel I am doing much better at understanding and not judging, along with only offering advice when asked. I am sorry if I slip up here and there, please bear with me!

Pratice

 I continue to pratice using different settings on my camera trying to get the hang of it better and not use auto settings more often. I took this picture today using the apature mode/manuel focus. I am pleased at how it turned out for the most part. I know I am still just playing and no where near the photographer I would like to be, like her. I actually know her in real life, she used to live here our husbands worked together. She is an amazing photographer....I wish someday I could be a fraction as good as that!

Perpetually Tired

 Ok I understand how it feels to be tired, more tired than you ever thought possible in fact. I do not understand how some one can just pass out asleep at any point in time no matter where they are, what they were doing, or what is going on around them. This annoys me, a lot in fact. I am in fact talking about The Marine...he seems to have this greatly annoying ability to fall asleep all the time, even if he gets sleeps at night. Today for example: He went to bed after 1am (so did I), he feels the need to sleep in (he just got a day to sleep in two days ago....I did not), he gets mad cause I want him awake and comment that nobody ever lets me sleep in (unless I am sick then and only then am I entitled to sleep apparently), he comes downstairs and falls asleep sitting up on the couches...repeatedly. Ladybug was trying to get him to play with her, she gave up cause he would rather snore loudly in front of her than play. That is what beyond annoys me. I get it...you are tired. Guess what so am I. I get it you have a paying job, guess what I work too I don't get to sit on my duff all day...it takes a lot to have two very young kids especially two sick kids oh and then run the household too.... I don't get to sleep in...nobody ever 'lets' me in this house....and ya know what.... I can stay awake all day. Maybe it's part of your illness but hey right now your kids want you to play and be awake and nice and have fun....
 sorry....he has just annoyed me with this more than once.

A little respect please?

 I sometimes mostly love being an adult. I answer to myself, with the exception of my kids and husband. I can do what I feel is best fo me, and based on very well researched information and talks with The Marine am able to make decisions for the best of my family. I get grief from people about things, I take it as I know I do things differently than most. People mmust think that I just willy-nilly make things up and pull things out of my ass sometimes, they don't take the time to understand or listen. That's fine, I smile and go about my way of life afterall that's all you can do...but sometimes I just have to get out with it some where. I ask for respect in my decisions as I do respect you and yours. There are just a few things I really want.
1.) My children are not walking ticking time bombs. Sure we don't fully vaccinate our children. (Ladybug got up until 6 months then we just stopped, Mister got two at two months and reacted badly so we stopped) My kids are not going to give your vaccinated kids anything. I actually take care in this matter, if there is the slightest hint of illness we stay home until there is no illness at all. I wish other people did the same and returned that respect....then maybe kids wouldn't get so sick so often? If you are really worried about my unvaccinated kids spreading something to your vaccinated kids....you should maybe trust your vaccines better...If you are worried about my kids, don't be. I make sure they are fine....with healthy diets and foods, with keeping them home from bugs/with bugs, with boosting their immune system naturally.
2.) yep the kids both still breastfeed. I am not going around whipping it out or flapping them in the wind. mainly the kids nurse at home in comfort for them and myself. I totally understand it is not socially accepted in America, that's fine with me cause I am not the one who has my panties in a bunch over it. Did you know breastfeeding a toddler is good for them? well it is, my milk didn't suddenly change after the age of 12months, my milk still gives the goods! Both kids still enjoy it, I don't mind it so we continue... I want to make it past this cold season and into spring then think about suggesting weaning...but for now they both do it and I would love to not have to handle criticism for it. I have my facebook profile picture set up right now of Ladybug nursing as support for the facebook nurse in.... I am sorry if you get offended by it. I am not.
 For now these two main things I have seemingly got more slack about lately so I ask for some respect. I really would like a day when I don;t have to stand up for my beliefs again please!

Snow!

 We are having the great southern blizzard of 2011 right now!! The snow has been coming down in big beautiful flakes since around 830pm this evening and, if all weather models are right, won't be stopping until tomorrow morning! We are looking at 6-10 inches!! That is like an unheard number for Alabama, it's caused insanity in the southern people! They have pretty good reason, the south is not equiped to handle the snow like northern states are, where it snows often. Down here they don't have city snow plows to clear roads, or salt trucks to prep roads. Here we have road clousures, sanded roads, and stores sold out of bread/milk/eggs/ramen/frozen pizza/ and sugar(?) Like any good 'southern' I have my house stocked with food and supplies for this snow-in, and I am uber excited about the falling white stuff!
 Now we had snow back on Christmas day, a good lot of it too. I know Ladybug enjoys the snow a ton, Mister screamed his head off when he touched it. I am excited for my kids to wake up and see everything. Ladybug was working on snow angels in the living room earlier! I am excited to see how much we actually get, I am excited to remember winters growing up in Ohio! I have not had a white winter since I moved and got married 5 years ago, so this is exactly perfect in my eyes!
 I am staying awake to 1.) watching the snow fall 2.) finish laundry I just started after Christmas break 3.) facebooking 4,) waiting for word from The Marine if he is coming home tonight (somebody got the duty van stuck coming back from Ft. Campbell....) and I don't think The Marine is coming home tonight. I really should get sleep, as I will pay for it tomorrow (pretty sure the kids have this sense to know when mommy hasn't slept and take advantage) but I just cannot stop looking outside at all the snow!!!

my house

the big beautiful flakes!

 It's almost magic outside!!!

Healing Naturally

 It's no big secret I am more natural minded, a mondern day hippie, a counterculture mamma . I would like to say there is a time and a place for modern medicine and doctors, just not always. Lately I have been reading more and thinking more about healing herbs and essential oils. I have already been using things like hylands teething tabs (yes despite the pointless recall), my kids and I are on probiotics, and I try not to use pharma-drugs if I don't have too. (Although these migraines make me resort to deeper measures than pure peppermint oil).
 Mister has been sickly lately, poor kid has had one bug after another and a seemingly endless snotty nose. During the Christmas week his cold got worse and moved into his chest with congrstion and cough and I am pretty sure an ear ache from the cold. He is too young for cough medicine (not that I would give him any) so I found out that eucalyptus and lavender oil can really help calm a cough so I went out and found some for him. I am lucky enough to live in a semi-decent green/hippie area! I also make him some garlic oil for his ears, and mine as this could has gotten to me as well. He seems to have gotten better with my measures! His snot is no longr a solid green color and now clear and his cough is calmed quite a bit, as well as his ears are not causng him to scream during the night!
 I want to get more into this world of healing herbs and oils. I know it can be an expensive one but a few of my like-minded friends have pointed me to some good sites to browse through :) For now I have a small wipes case filled with my home mix and I am excited to learn more!